Ilya Grubert - Naum Grubert - Dimitri Ferschtman

The Piano Trio, Opus 8 encompasses Brahm's (1833-1897) entire chamber music oeuvre: he wrote the Trio in 1853-1854 and revised it in 1891. At the same instance, it is the first chamber music work he ever published. His friends considered it favourably. Clara Schumann however, his confidante, was negative after the first hearing: "I can only hope that you will write a different movement. The current one does not satisfy me, although I must admit that the point of departure was good." And the more time passed after publication, the less sure Brahms became. On the occasion of a reprint, he gladly grasped the opportunity for a thorough revision of the work. The First and the Second Violin Sonatas date from a time of the most intense creative work, in which he finally arrived at some level of self-confidence. The First Sonata from 1878-1879 immediately followed upon the First Symphony and he wrote the Second Sonata from 1886 just before the Fourth Symphony. The First Sonata emanates this confidence in terms of happiness in the Brahmsian manner: measured, disciplined and noble. The Second Sonata is a sun-drenched work, which brings the themes of his songs to mind.